Since the beginning of the second Trump administration, the United States has ramped up military, economic and political interventions in Latin America.
Nowhere were those three factors more clear than the U.S. abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January 2026. Since then, the Trump administration has used a mix of carrots and sticks to cajole what remains of Maduro’s government to support U.S. aims, including opening up the country’s oil industry to foreign development and targeted killings of accused criminals in the country. At the same time, the U.S. has found local Venezuelan allies in opposition leaders such as María Corina Machado, winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize and a longtime Maduro critic.
